Marketing for Musicians: The Tools No Good Band Should Be Without

In every industry, marketing is needed to promote a great product. When you're in the music biz, this is even more relevant.

But of course becoming a professional musician is a tall task and one that relies on a slice of luck, mixed with raw talent. There are numerous tales of bands spotted and signed by coincidence, being in the right place at the right time to get heard.

And that's what marketing music online is about: the internet is today's modern basement club. It's where musicians and are born and created and the one place that makes or breaks a career.

So, to make sure you give yourself the best chance to be seen and heard, marketing and promoting your music well is essential.

Here is a list of marketing tools – which are readily available for all to use – that will give you an extra beat in the battle to be seen online.

A website

This won't surprise you. We're not going to shock by saying a website is a fantastic marketing tool for musicians or bands. But we repeat it because so many bands continue not to heed the advice.

A website is the mother ship that all your other marketing minions obey. The website can act as the mouthpiece for your music and that the other marketing tools (which we'll get to in a minute) can parrot. Thus, the message about your music is spread far and wide across the web with a certain continuity.

Of course, your website must contain your music, a brief bio, and contact details as standard. Additional and helpful information for fans, venue managers, or record execs to get in touch with you is your contact information and a custom email address.

With websites being so cheap and ready-made templates widely available, there's not much excuse not to have a presence online.

Soundcloud

If you're going to make music then you need to make sure it can be listened to. This isn't rocket science.

As the flag bearer for the music industry, Soundcloud is the one audio-streaming website that you really shouldn't miss being part of.

There's a beauty to Soundcloud's simplicity. Rather than filling the website with heavy advertising, Soundcloud's creators went for a stripped-back, basic-but-best experience that really allows the music to be the focus of the site.

But there are still ways for listeners to get involved. One great way for fans to show their appreciation is by clicking on a part of the song they like and leaving a comment. This, as well as the sidebar that offers information about the band or musician, a review of who has liked the song, and who are following the artist, produces a network that allows others to more easily find your music.

You can link your website and social media profiles to produce a marketing mini ecosystem for your music only.

And it's free. What's not to love?

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Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: The social media platforms

Another no brainer and one that shouldn't need saying: the world talks on social media.

Almost anything that's a success will be exposed to social media. People talk and that gets other people talking. So when you're trying to get the best for your band or musical career, make sure you cover the bases and set up those oh-so-easy Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts!

As discussed in previously, continuity really is key when you're working with social media. Post across all of your social media accounts so that fans and spectators on each format get the same detailed information of your new release or tour date.

It helps to build the brand of your music and select a style that feels right for yourself.

In short, it's an integral part of success for any major artist.

YouTube

YouTube's market dominance as a video-sharing platform is outrageous.

By that, we mean that there isn't much point popping your exquisitely directed, artfully shot video on anything other than YouTube. Well, by all means, upload it to Vimeo, DailyMotion and anything else. But make sure that your video is also on YouTube.

Many bands and musicians too early in their career to be hiring professional help to produce a video believe there's no value in putting their own recordings online. That's really not the case.

Videos build an identity and allow fans to watch your progress as a group or solo artist. There is a pleasing evolution that fans can watch as you change your sound and go on to bigger and better things.

Anything you can put online will be a real plus. And it is strictly only about the video content. There's also the SEO to think of. If you're not familiar with the acronym, it stands for Search Engine Optimization and is likely the most powerful tool you have at your disposal for rapidly improving how highly your band will rate on search engine results. As YouTube is the second largest search engine (after Google, of course), it's important to use YouTube's video descriptions properly.

Spotify

Whereas iTunes was the music listening platform for the 00's, Spotify really is the place to listen to music, hear fresh tracks, and find your favorite new artist in the 2010's.

Anyone can put their music onto Spotify but if you're not already signed then you'll have to go through an intermediary company like TuneCore, AWAL, or Spinnup to collect royalties and deal with the legalities of joining the platform. Here's Spotify's very own guide on how to do that.

Getting your music onto Spotify will push your sounds into the ears of new listeners. If one of your songs is chosen for one of the many selected playlists that reach hundreds of thousands of listeners a day, then you might find yourself enjoying some welcome attention.

Complete the artist page and link to your website so that anyone looking for more information can easily locate it.

Remember that 2nomads is here to offer professional marketing that is entirely unique to your needs. Get started on your first steps to stardom with us.

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About Patrick Appleby

Patrick is a British journalist and content creator now based in Mexico City. When not searching for a scoop or trying to memorise Spanish verb conjugations, he enjoys cycling, reading, and wandering through the vast streets of the Distrito Federal.